Extra Magic Hours -- go to those parks or not?

[labdogs42]

I'm so confused with EMH and whether or not they are a good thing. I will be staying at the Beach Club, so I will be eligible for the extra hours. Between Unofficial Guid, Tour Guide Mike, and everything here, I've totally confused myself about them! Is it good to go for the EMH and then head to another park? Should I avoid the EMH park because too many people will be there? Do I need to be there 1/2 hour before the EMH starts or so I only need to be that early on non-EMH days? Help!

(BTW, I'll be there in May if that means anything!)

 

[Ana~n~Joseph]

Are you only considering EMH in the mornings? I didn't do morning EMH this time but I did evening EMH and they worked out great for us. We were able to ride Rock and Roll Rollercoaster in less than 10 minutes and the same goes for Tower of Terror. At Magic Kingdom we did Space Mountain, Astro Orbiter, Tea Cups, Carousel of Progress and Phillharmagic in less than an hour! At Epcot we rode Mission Space twice in a row and walked on El Rio del Tiempo and Maelstorm. Hope this helps a bit. I'm sure morning EMH is just as great though because we got to some parks when they opened and we pretty much walked onto everything. But that's just my humble opinion; hope it helps some!

 

[noladave]

Morning EMH is an excellent idea, especially for the busy attractions (TT/Soarin @Epcot, TOT/RNR @ MGM, and anything at MK), because most people can't get up in time. It's still crowded, don't think that you will be there by yourself, but what we usually do is head to the EMH park that morning, getting there before it actually opens, and then hit the most critical rides (or get FP's) first. Once that's done, we stay in the park until it gets too crowded, and then head to another one.

We went this past February, and found that the Evening EMH's were not as good. In the AK, only Dino and some of the Funland attractions were open, so it was packed. Dino had something like a 75 minute wait.

MGM, the FP's were gone for RNR, and we aren't big TOT fans, so again, not much to do. We find that most of the eating places were closed, or already full, so you can't do anything spontaneous (advance reservations are a must). It was nice walking around the park, as the crowds themselves were so much smaller than normal.

Epcot was also tough to get into the good attractions, TT had a 60-90 minute walk up, and FP's were for around 11:30pm. So we had to decide on weather to stay there, and wait in the standby lines, or wait until almost midnight. This was at 9:30pm. The other attractions that were open, such as Honey I shrunk the audience, and Figment were literally walk on. No wait at all. Again, the crowds were small, so with the exception of long waits at key attractions, it was very easy walking around and just "sight seeing". Eating was again marginal, at best.

MK was probably the best of all. While more crowded, there's just so many more attractions at MK. The biggest issue with the Evening EMH at MK was the HUGE bus lines after everyone leaves. It took over an hour to get back to the resort (AKL) after the fireworks.

 

[labdogs42]

I'm mostly thinking about morning EMH's because we'll be traveling with DS who will be 15 months old. He gets up by 6:30 am usually, so we can do early, but I don't think we'll be staying up super late (except to see Wishes one night for sure!).

 

[des]

I have to say, the Morning EMH worked out perfect for us.... We were able to get our kids up early, get a nice breakfast all that.... go on rides (it wasn't empty in the morning, but nowhere near as crowded as it became.....)

Best part...the kids got up early, so got tired early and went to bed early (nice for us adults )....and then woke up early the next day!

D

 

[Hawk]

MK was probably the best of all. While more crowded, there's just so many more attractions at MK. The biggest issue with the Evening EMH at MK was the HUGE bus lines after everyone leaves. It took over an hour to get back to the resort (AKL) after the fireworks.

Noladave: Did they switch the time of fireworks? I thought the fireworks were at the end of the regular park hours, then EMH begins. The bus lines should be more managable during EMH. At least that is what I recall during our trips.

I agree that EMH during the evening are hit and miss worthwhile, however EMH during the mornings are always worth it unless one of the major attractions are down. To us, EMH in the morning allows us to get the park done early and spend time at the pool, water park or mall for the afternoon.

Tim/Hawk

 

[ReneeA]

The only time we noticed crowds when we went this past August was on EMH in the evenings. About 2-3 hours before the park closed, you couldn't wade through the people. It didn't really seem to empty out as much as I had hoped when it closed to the general publec, either. I wasn't that thrilled with the evening EMH.

However, we are early risers (my 2 & 3 year olds don't know to SLEEP IN on vacation ). So we did EMH mornings. They were GREAT! We literally walked onto every ride we wanted to without a wait. It stayed pretty empty until the park had been open about an hour or two.


ReneeA

 

[Densgirl]

Did EMH mornings for the first time in Sept and LOVED them. MGM especially we rode TOT and RNR a bunch of times in the first hour. We did do Epcot evening EMH because we stayed at BWI and were also in walking distance and I really wanted to see the parks that late. It was fun and they opened the F&WF a day early which was cool cus it was our last night and I expected to miss the F&WF.

 

[noladave]

I think you are right about the fireworks, but can't be certain. If I'm not mistaken, the late night at MK was a midnight (or maybe 11pm) close, but it probably wasn't an EMH night, now that I think of it. It was 11 months ago, so I can't remember for sure.

 

[labdogs42]

Hmm...sounds like EMH mornings are for me! This will really help me start to make a better plan for my trip in May. Great info -- thanks!

 

[goofy4tink]

The morning EMH work best for those with young children. We used to do them all the time and it was great. They tend to be less crowded than the evening ones. If you find that you just can't get going that early, or there aren't any EMHs listed for that day, head over to the park that had evening EMHs the previous night. That park is usually not nearly as crowded as the other parks.

 

[AndyMcV]

Hi Gang

I just wanted to comment on the EMH, at least from last June. We stayed at WDW and had a great time from May 29th to June 11th. It was my DW, DS5, DD1 and myself.

We decided to do the EMH at the Magic Kingdom on our second last night. I had heard the EMH are awsome because there are less people because it's generally everyone from the resorts and you can get an extra few hours at the park. In a word WOW. It was packed and I mean PACKED. We were in the park when the EMH started around Space Mountain. We decided to go over to Splash Mountain because we had heard that it's less busy during the EMH (or when it starts). It was just a sea of people walking. It was so packed that I held my DS hand and pretty quickly had to pick him up and put him on my shoulders because it was way too busy (and I'm not an overly cautious person). We finally made it over to Splash mountain but the line was horrendous. Both my DW and myself said this was crazy. We carved our way out of the crouds to the front gates and went back to the resort. I could not believe how busy it was. Quite frankly even I was questioning the safety. If they have a capacity for MK I'm sure we were at it if not over.

If that was the norm for an evening EMH we'd never do it again even without kids.

Andy

 

[Varby]

 

[Varby]

So.... Did they switch the time of fireworks or not? Are this at the end of the regular park hours and then EMH begins? Or the EMH begins and at the end of it the fireworks start?

Can anyone tell me please??

Thanks!!!

 

[disneyfan581]

So.... Did they switch the time of fireworks or not? Are this at the end of the regular park hours and then EMH begins? Or the EMH begins and at the end of it the fireworks start?

Can anyone tell me please??

Thanks!!!

well it depends on when the park is open until. EMH starts right as soon as the park closes. For example. If MK is open until 11 pm and wishes is at 9, EMH will start at 11:00. But lets say that EPCOT is open until 9 and Illuminations is at 9, then EMH will start after Illuminations is over. Did that help?

 

[Varby]

well it depends on when the park is open until. EMH starts right as soon as the park closes. For example. If MK is open until 11 pm and wishes is at 9, EMH will start at 11:00. But lets say that EPCOT is open until 9 and Illuminations is at 9, then EMH will start after Illuminations is over. Did that help?

Yeah! That was very helpfull thanks so much

 

[Robo]

well it depends on when the park is open until. EMH starts right as soon as the park closes. For example. If MK is open until 11 pm and wishes is at 9, EMH will start at 11:00. But lets say that EPCOT is open until 9 and Illuminations is at 9, then EMH will start after Illuminations is over. Did that help?

Well, that last info is not EXACTLY right.

When its evening EMH at Epcot.
EMH starts at 9pm even though IllumiNations (18 minutes) is running.

That means that EMH will END at 12 midnight (not 12:18am).

It also means that (unlike on regular non-EMH nights) you CAN continue to ride (and enter the queue-lines for) the EMH attractions DURING IllumiNations.

On regular non-EMH nights, people are stopped from ENTERING all the queues at 9pm park closing-time (those who are ALREADY IN THE LINE can continue in line until all have of them have been able to ride).

 

[tinkerbela]

we went to MK for EMH and had no trouble with crowds. the same thing applies for AK as well and MGM. i think EMH is a blessing for those who stay on property. it gives everyone a chance to go on the rides that they missed out during the day or go on their favorite rides as many times as they want. don't let the possibility of crowds affect your chances of going to EMH. think it over.

 

[nhdisnut]

I think that it truly depends on the time of year and the hours the parks are open whether or not Evening EMH work well. We were at MK last April until 1:00 am (park closed at 10:00) and didn't find the crowds to be too bad at all. Wishes had shown at 10:00 and many more people were leaving the park than arriving or staying. We spent most of our time in Adventureland/Frontierland (POC, Splash, BTMTT are some of our all-time favs) and walked on everytime. Rides that had been 80 - 90 min waits in the afternoon had no waits at all! We were having so much fun we never did try to head to Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. What was perhaps the best part was leaving just before 1am and basically having the park to ourselves! - a very cool feeling

I'm hoping that we can duplicate this during our next trip in April and again in Dec!!